Previously, we had talked about how stresses on the body can come in many different forms. Today, we will be specifically focusing on the physical aftermath of a traumatic incident.
I’m assuming that many of you have played sports during childhood and beyond. To any of my former gridiron competitors: can you recall the way your body felt, the morning after a Friday night football game? I don’t know about you, but I. Felt. Beat. Up. Saturday morning saw me in straight zombie-mode. Bruises, jammed fingers, muscle soreness, strains/sprains, etc. My body was in full-out rebuild. The parasympathetic (if you can remember from our previous post), had taken over in order to repair the damage from the night before.
Now, some have experienced physical stressors much more intense than a high school football game. Still others, potentially less. It is important to understand that both micro- and macro traumas can affect the body differently, but the repair process still needs to occur on varying scales.
This isn’t rocket science to anyone reading: “Ok, our body goes through an event and then needs to recover in order to get back to baseline…What’s the big deal?” The emphasis here is that regardless of severity, it is important to (1) listen to our bodies and (2) identify less obvious stressors.
Though much of this ensuing anatomy “lesson” will be review, I want to invite you to walk yourself through these scenarios as they pertain to your everyday life. Every vertebrae has an opening behind it’s body called the vertebral foramen. It is through this opening that the spinal cord travels from our brain down to our lower back as it continues to traverse numerous vertebrae. (I have included an image of how various parts of the body are affected depending on where trauma could be occurring.) With 24 vertebral segments, is it any wonder that subluxations are prone to happen, especially when we choose to take on challenging/unnatural positions?
One of the chief goals of chiropractic is to align all of those vertebrae so that no nerves are irritated/compressed and allow us and all of our organs/smaller structures to function properly. It is easy to see how a hypothetical car accident could displace any number of vertebrae and cause dysfunction at any stated level. Correcting the subluxations is key, but the other bodily structures directly or indirectly affected also take additional time to heal.
Now, picture yourself in your daily life. We will pick a name out of a hat…Jed. Jed is a FedEx driver. Jed hops in and out of his truck multiple times a day delivering packages. However, at one specific location, Jed thought he heard his name called and turned abruptly at the same time as his body was picking up a large delivery. Jed is now subluxed, but he tells himself that he doesn’t have time to go get adjusted. He finishes his shift and goes to bed. Jed wakes up the next day in pain, but continues to fight through it. Two weeks pass, and he starts to notice his skin breaking out and some other gastrointestinal issues that he didn’t have before…
Can you see where I am going with this? Jed didn’t do anything bad/major. He’s a hard-working man, whom accidentally injured himself. On an even smaller scale, can you see how the proverbial “text-neck” that you see so prevalent in our society from individuals in 2020 bent over our phones and computers can not only cause subluxations but a wide variety of bodily dysfunctions?
All of these examples are physical traumas. Some more extreme than others, yet all demanding recovery and proper chiropractic care in order to function optimally in our day-to-day lives.
Now, if you happen to have an occupation that requires you to lift up boxes or type on a computer, I am not telling you to go home and rethink your life, lol. What I am saying is start to become more aware of when you compromise posture, recognizing the aftermath that can ensue, if not careful. These microtraumas add up and though our bodies are AMAZING at adapting, compensation leading to disorder is a real and legitimate concern.
So, the next time you feel a headache come on, or your neck muscles start to tighten up: take a quick pause in order to stand up and stretch your neck, before getting back after it. And as always, take ownership over your health, to the best of your abilities.
Until next time,
– Brock Baumgarn, CA, Nutrition Consultant, Health 1st Chiropractic
*Image taken from: https://www.nysora.com/foundations-of-regional-anesthesia/anatomy/functional-regional-anesthesia-anatomy/